Eleuthera and Harbour Island – the Bahamas Taylor Swift slips away to
Few visitors go beyond Nassau and Paradise Island, but venturing further reveals historic caves, pink sand and guava duff
If you’re looking for a lengthy debate about the merits of authentic cuisine, ask a Bahamian about their grandmother’s recipe for guava duff.
The guava duff feels like a totem of cultural legacy for the islanders, who take pride in the stories and recipes passed on through observation and memory. Everyone’s grandmother makes a version that is slightly different but “infinitely superior”. Ours is densely rich and eye-poppingly sweet. Caveat emptor – after eating one, you might need a lie down.
With beautiful beaches, outrageously turquoise seas and pastel-hued villages, the Bahamas, an archipelago of more than 700 islands and cays off the coasts of Miami and Cuba, is an aesthetic masterpiece. Most visitors, however, do not venture beyond the all-inclusive resorts, Michelin-starred restaurants, 24-hour casinos and gargantuan water parks of Paradise Island and the capital, Nassau.
Which is a shame, because Eleuthera and Harbour islands have much to offer.
Only a curtain separates passengers and pilot on Pineapple’s 15-seat, twin-engined turboprop Embraer and Beechcraft aircraft. Those taller than five foot must shuffle down the aisle crouched over as they look for an empty seat. It helps to calm we nervous fliers to google Pineapple Air’s safety record as we are buckling the seat belts and find that it’s pretty good.
